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Scene nodes and parts

A GTA car is a tree of parts under a chassis: chassis > door_dside_f > window_lf and so on. The game only knows the parts under the chassis, by their names (bonnet, boot, wheel_lf, extra_1 ...).

The tree

The Scene Nodes panel (right) shows the tree.

  • Click a part's box to show or hide it (blue = shown).
  • Click a name to highlight it (yellow). Shift+click and Ctrl+click highlight several. Properties and the Structure tab work on the highlighted parts.
  • Alt+click a box selects the part for the views (the box turns red). Alt+click a red box deselects it.
  • Drag a row onto another to link it under that part. Double-click a name to rename it.
  • Buttons under the tree: Isolated, Show All, Hide All, Move Up / Down, Relink Up, Expand, Collapse.

The tabs above it:

  • Hierarchy: find a part by name (Ctrl+F), and find / replace in names.
  • Structure: LOD buttons (L0-L3), COL (show collision), dirt / burn preview, group, new dummy, link, delete.
  • Properties: the part's name, position, rotation, scale, GTA options (bone flags, External State, glass) and ZModeler's User-Defined options. Change values and press Apply. With several parts highlighted, what you type goes to all of them.

Linking parts

  • Right-click in a view > Linking > Link to last selected: select the parts, then the new parent last.
  • Unlink puts a part back at the top of the tree.
  • Linking keeps the part where it is in the world.

Merging another model

File > Import > Merge (Ctrl+I) brings in another .z3d, .yft or other model:

  1. Tick the parts you want.
  2. Choose what happens to names the car already has: keep both (the new one gets " (1)"), overwrite the old part, or keep both names.
  3. The parts can go into a group named after the file.

The Parts Library (top right) merges parts from the game (spoilers, bumpers, liveries ...) the same way.

After a merge, if the new parts sit beside the car rather than under its chassis, Rivet offers to link them under the chassis. Say yes: that is where the game needs them. If you said no, the export check (Vehicle > Preflight) lists them with a one-click Link under chassis fix. Either way, the export makes each of them its own part under chassis, so an extra_3 you merged stays a separate extra instead of becoming part of the body.

Collision parts

A part's collision is a child named <part> [COL]. Turn COL on (Structure tab) to see them. Make them with Vehicle > Generate Collision; see Vehicle tools.